NMEA offers marine electronics guide

The National Marine Electronics Association recently published the NMEA Guide to Boating Electronics, which provides advice to boat owners and captains about purchasing marine electronics.

Prominent in the six-page guide is a “How to Choose” table that lets buyers match their criteria for electronics purchases with sources of supply, such as marine electronics dealers and Internet sellers.

The NMEA Guide to Boating Electronics also briefly describes the networking and installation standards developed by the association that make boating safer and more fun. Boaters will see the new NMEA Master Dealer logo, which identifies electronics dealerships that have achieved the highest level of formal certifications for providing top-notch sales and service.

“We think that boaters will benefit from this guide,” NMEA interim executive director Bruce Angus said in a statement. “Boating electronics are installed and used differently than home consumer electronics, and we hope the guide will help to identify those differences and this knowledge will benefit retail outlets (better customer advice), manufacturers (better warranty control) and the end users (better fun control).”

The association offers the Buyers’ Guide, another free tool for boaters who are looking for marine electronics. The annual directory names the top marine electronics products, along with the companies that make, sell and service them.